Big Idea:
Syllables versus Words.

Say to students, "Rhythm comes from a Greek word rhythmos meaning "measure", as in a bar of music that has a particular number of beats. Poets use a variety of tools to give a poem rhythm. One device poets use to give a poem rhythm is regular beats. Today you will learn how to connects regular beats to the rhythm and meaning of a poem.

Some poems are like music- they make us want to clap our hands and dance to the words. This morning you learned how the author of Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin used words and phrases to establish a beat or a rhythm. I'm going to read a poem outloud. As I read I want you to clap your hands to its rhythm."

Eagle Flight

Eagle gliding in the sky

Circling, circling way up high

wind is whistling through your wings

You're a graceful kite with no string

Now I'll read the poem again with the beats bolded

Eagle Flight

Eagle gliding in the sky 4 claps

Circling, circling way up high 4 claps

wind is whistling through your wings 4 claps

You're a graceful kite with no string 4 claps

There are 4 claps per line and the strong syllables give the poem its beat. We do not clap on every syllable. The beat happens on key words or syllables and the stressed beat is every other syllable.

Another thing that makes this poem sound great is that it is a quatrain. That means that it has four lines. The first two lines rhyme and the last two lines rhyme. It has a AA BB structure. Lines 1 and 2 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme. AA BB. Do you understand?

Have managers at each table pass out the planning sheet to scaffold the quatrain.

Students, pick a topic off your A-Z taxonomy to write your poem about. Use the planning sheet to help you come up with one or two syllable words so that you have 7 syllables per line. You can use the rhyming dictionaries to help you have the AABB rhyming pattern.